The assignment was obviously temporary, but my friend was happy to accept a well-paid job for a far-away company that is riding out the tail end of a contract. All around her are the sounds of staff adrift in their own boats: Here an animated conversation between software engineers about their gaming avatars (the take away: even a sorcerer must travel with a healer) and there the keyboard clicking of industrious engineers composing websites for friends. Other staff have been using 6 to 7 hours daily to search for new employment. The problem?
The contract will not be renewed. There is, however, the inflow of income to the company by keeping positions filled on this contract for its few remaining months. How does a tech writer fill such days that were not promoted as devoid of professional work beyond the initial swirl of a few technical white papers?
One decides that one has been handed an exciting fellowship to spend three months in totally independent, well-supported learning. There is CSS to learn cold, and Java scripting. Why would one ever use a design software when there is a world of information on directly writing Web pages that if learned well is far more useful? Lucky person.
I had a six-month contract with a university where I found I was able to do the job and still have several hours to spare each days. I used the time to learn everything I could about the Internet, and promptly sold those skills to my next employer. Such paid opportunities for self-directed learning are indeed lucky, and in my case, lucrative.
Posted by: Moretta | April 22, 2010 at 07:41 PM